Zenku
by Kira Kyuu
Summary: Zenku: vanguard, precursor, forerunner, leader; the whole body. Only working as one, will the Universe survive what is coming. Adhara - as she called herself when Shepard first met her - is the one to help with that.
1. The Start

**A/N: Okay. This story, unlike **_**Was It Worth It?**_** is NOT complete yet. I would like it if you all give me feedback so I can **_**make it a better story overall**_**. If you don't, then I can't make it a better read for everyone. Understood? Goody. Now, for the key. . .**

**A small timeskip or a scene change is **Z-Z_Thoughts_

**A larger timeskip/SC is **-Z-"Speaking in common language."

**A complete scene or CoF change is **-Z-Z- _"Foreign language/emphasis."_

"_-Radio/Comms.-" _

**(This story is a Multiple Universe Crossover. Problem? Review and tell me it. Don't care if its just to flame , so long as it ain't only trite words and/or 'update please!' Give me **_**something**_** to work with. Oh, first chapter is the entirety of the first game and the beginning of ME2)**

**Shepard in this is a Soldier, Colonist, and both Sole Survivor/War Hero. My excuse is that Shep was on Elysium for a psychological leave, ended up being a hero. He also has the default appearance (and blue eyes, the bright bright blue eyes)**

**And warnings. . . Well, cursing. Gore. Alcohol. Violence. Characters being out of character. Et cetera. Oh, and it's all unbeta-ed.**

**And the only Disclaimer for the entirety of this Fic: I own nothing recognizable. I play with stories for my own amusement. I do not profit in any way shape or form from this aside from personal satisfaction.**

_**Bully**_** by**__**Shinedown, **_**White Rabbit**_** by Egypt Central, and **_**Heartlines by Florence and the Machine**_** are my recommended songs for this chapter.**

**Let the story begin! (Oh! And, Adhara is **_**not**_** an OC. . . You'll find out later, at the end of this chapter!)**

_**The Beginning and the End**_

**. . .**

"Fucking shit-headed assholes! Let me out so I can rip off that damn Turian's head!" A loud crack filled the room. Commander John Shepard exchanged a look with Wrex and Garrus. "That one doesn't sound too happy with someone," Garrus needlessly pointed out.

"You godsforsaken bastards! Let. Me. OUT!" The last three words were punctuated by three loud cracks – they were hitting the glass of their cell. When Shepard's team got to the correct cell, they were shocked by what they saw: a diminutive, pale skinned, gaunt Human woman with bloodied fists. Her hair was black, short and messy, bangs falling over her right eye. Her left was a vibrant garnet colour.

"You lot here to stop that bastard Arterius?" she asked, eying them. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. Who are you?" Shepard asked, not bothering to hide his suspicion. Hopefully she wasn't insane.

"Grimm. Adhara Grimm. Can you let me out, or should I resume my attempts to break the door?" Grimm asked dryly. Shepard glanced at his companions, then began to hack the cell's lock.

"You sure that's wise? She could be Indoctrined," Garrus pointed out, shifting to eye the woman suspiciously. John shook his head, "If she causes problems, Wrex can take care of her. Besides, she's more likely to get the drop on us if we leave her here." The Turian had to concede to that. It was best to keep enemies close, after all.

"So, can you shoot, Grimm?" Shepard asked when the door slid open, offering his pistol. "Can't with these hands. Soon as I finish unsealing my omnitool, I can use that, though," the woman replied with a shrug. The Commander frowned slightly, taking a closer look at her wounded hands. The knuckle bones were showing, making the blue-eyed man wince sympathetically.

"We've got some spare medigel," the Commander said, pulling out a spare pack. "Might be a good idea. Can you hand me – Hey! I can –" "Take a good look at your hands and tell me you can use them well enough to do this," Shepard growled, his eyes flashing challengingly. Grimm narrowed her garnet eyes at the tall man. They were sure she was going to continue to be obstinate, but then she shrugged and held out her hands as if it were her intention all along. "Get on with it then. We're burning daylight." Wrex gave an amused chuckle. He liked this female.

–Z –

"Damn it, Shepard! The next time someone decides to strangle you, I'm bloody well letting them if it means _I_ get hurt." Adhara was most definitely _not_ pouting as she limped along next to the Commander, grumbling under her breath about crazy ass Turians, or shooting the wound in her right thigh death glares for existing. And, of course, she was in no way trying to cheer up the depressed Commander, who had been forced to leave behind a woman he called 'Ash'. _Right. You should work on your denial,_ Adhara thought angrily. She had become . . . _attached_ to the man, Void only knew why. Adhara had just met him, after all, but then again, he had an odd charisma about him.

"You're the one who put yourself in the fight, despite having no weapons or kinetic barriers," Shepard pointed out, her attempt at humour falling short. Not that that would stop her. "_Then_ who'd save you from crazy Indoctrined ex-Spectres, hm?" She retorted, offering a teasing half smirk. The Commander finally let out a small grin in return, his demeanor relaxing by a tiny amount.

"Has anyone given _any_ thought as to why _she_ is the only Human we found in those cells? One of two that managed to 'resist' Indoctrination, I might add!" Grimm glanced at the man who spoke, tilting her head slightly in some confusion. Why was he being so hostile to her? What had _she_ done? Perhaps he had been involved with the woman that had been left to die. . . "You shouldn't question what your Commander has chosen to do, Lieutenant. At least, not if you trust his judgment," she admonished him, raising her eyebrows at the man. The Lieutenant – Adhara thought she had heard him called 'Kaiden' – flushed and started sputtering indignantly.

"Enough. Grimm has had ample opportunity to either let us die or kill us outright. She hasn't done anything to harm _any_ of us," Shepard asserted, slipping back into the battle-hardened Commander role.

_"-Commander, you have a wave from Udina. Claims it's important.-"_ That, if Adhara was correct, would be the Normandy's pilot, 'Joker'. He didn't seem to like Udina, who was the Human Ambassador on the Citadel. Grimm glanced at Shepard, who sighed heavily. "Patch it through, Joker." He didn't seem to want to deal with the Ambassador either. She wondered if something had happened between them. _"-Aye, aye, Commander,-"_ Joker replied.

_"-Shepard? I should thank you for locating Agent Grimm. . . You're to escort her to Arcturus Station and hand her over to the awaiting men.-"_ Adhara bristled dangerously. "Who the _fuck_ are you to order me to be 'handed over'? You're out of your jurisdiction, _Ambassador_!" she bit out, a growl like quality to her voice.

"_-Under section eleven paragraph seven of the Charter, you are –"_ The woman cut him off, "Again, you are out of your jurisdiction. I am not under your control, and you have no right to invoke the Charter, let alone to _me_. The Commandant _himself_ gave me the mission that has now become joint with Spectre Shepard's own." The occupants of the room were looking between her, the Commander, and Udina's hologram like an odd tennis match. Even Shepard seemed confused.

Udina looked like he had been force fed a combination of Varren shit and Vorcha piss. _"-Very well. I'll be reporting your failure to comply with orders to the Commandant.-"_ The holo fizzed out of existence before anyone could retort.

"So. . . You're a Phoenix?" Shepard asked after a moment of silence. Grimm nodded once. "You were a prospective one, correct? I was friends with the Mercury that evaluated you." The commander's eyebrow rose at that. "I was evaluated by a Mercury? Huh. I was told she was only a Gold." Adhara hummed softly, gnawing on her lip. "No, she was Mercury at that point," she said with conviction.

"So. . you're a . . .?" he prodded cautiously. Usually the ranks were closely guarded. "Me? Onyx." Adhara shrugged slightly. "I got caught because I was too preoccupied looking for a friend of mine and I had let my guard down," she explained with a scowl.

"Sorry, but what's a Phoenix?" the Quarian – Tali'Zorah – asked, confusion obvious. "Phoenix is basically the Human's equivalent to the elite of the elite of the elite. Very hush hush, usually," Kaiden explained with a frown.

"I'll be joining you on your 'eliminate Saren Arterius' mission . . . I had been assigned to watch the Spectres, evaluate if any of them could make good allies. Arterius is very much on my shit list for boxing me up and making me listen to those damn whispers," Adhara explained with a slight shrug.

"Whispers?" the Asari Liara T'Soni asked. "'S what I heard. Of course, I was the only one to listen at the time for the things out of place. Thoughts that weren't mine, I mean." That drew even more confusion. "May I see?" Liara asked out of curiosity.

"You don't want to do that," Kaiden and Shepard said at the same time, shaking their heads. "Why?" "The Phoenix are trained to resist Asari Melding. It wasn't intentional, of course, but once we found out that we could, well, levels above Apprentice are trained as such," Adhara elaborated, "I believe the most common affect of a Meld after training is brain death for both parties." That earned horrified looks all around, even Wrex seeming to be appalled.

"What if the person is _fond_ of Asari?" Garrus asked, seemingly confused. "Then they either don't advance past the Apprentice ranks or find a new _fondness_," she replied, "It's for security reasons that we ask them to choose." "I don't believe you. Asari are compatible by the nervous system of any sentient creature," Liara said stiffly.

"I've had five other Phoenix – four Journeymen and one Master – attempt a Meld. None of the Asari involved were Ardat Yakshi, yet in every case the Phoenix involved ended up dead or worse, while the Asari became just plain dead. I can't divulge much else on this," Adhara snapped angrily, then spun on her heel and left. She was _sick_ of people questioning her.

Z–Z

"So, you're the infamous Joker." The off-handed comment made the pilot start in surprise. "How the hell can you do that?" Joker shot at the woman, glancing down at her wounded leg. "_Lots_ of practice," she replied dryly, flopping down into the co-pilot's chair and taking a quick glance at their trajectory. They were headed to the Citadel.

"Anything in particular you wanted, Ninja-Bird?" Joker asked after a little while. He knew she wasn't scheduled to co-pilot at all. Grimm shrugged slightly. "Had to get away from Alenko. Since he found out I was Biotic . . ." A theatrical shudder passed through her frame, making the Flight-Lieutenant chuckle at her expense.

There was a short pause before Grimm held out her hand. "Adhara Grimm," she offered. "Joker Moreau," he replied, shaking her hand. The woman held his hand loosely, as though afraid of breaking his hand. He wondered if she had always been like that or if she knew about his Vrolik's. Either way, she made no mention of it, turning out to be pretty decent company for the sarcastic man.

–Z–

Alenko was a stalker. He followed Adhara around like a lost puppy when he wasn't too busy following Shepard. She wanted _so badly_ to hit him, if not for being such a stalker, then for complaining so goddamned much over his Biotic training. Unfortunately, she couldn't do as such. There was a reason she was so careful with other people, alien or not. The woman could seriously injure them. Grimm had a number of genetic modifications, some of which Phoenix used, some of which weren't very widely used at all. The main one that could do more harm then good was the muscle-density modifications, resulting in the fact that she was a _lot_ stronger then a woman her size should be.

Considering how long Adhara had fought, though, the modifications and alterations to make her a better fighter and generally harder to kill usually did less harm then they would have for someone who was more interested in a home life, or a life outside of war. For the woman, they were virtually her bread and butter. If there was one thing Adhara had been good at even at a young age, it was fighting. The number of scars her body possessed – most faded greatly over time – attested to that fact.

– Z–Z–

"I fucking _hate_ politicians," Grimm growled, flopping down on the deckplates next to Joker's chair. It had become a favorite of her spots to take a break at. "You don't wanna go with Shepard? He's likely to tell Udina off," the helmsman said in curiosity. "No. . . An old friend of mine promised me a tour, but since Saren got a hold of me, I haven't been able to take him up on it."

Joker frowned, an odd twinge forming in his chest, one that he really didn't want to decipher. "You, er, can't get a hold of him?" She scrubbed at her face, a weary sigh falling from her mouth. "No. He – . . . He's a Spectre. I checked the frequencies and feeds he usually uses for messages, but none of them have been used recently. He's probably on a long term mission." The Phoenix didn't sound as if she really believed that, though, her worry all too obvious to Joker.

"Any other places you could check for him? Maybe for messages?" Joker questioned, frowning. He didn't like it when Adhara was worried. He liked her usual sarcasm or friendliness. "Could have sent a message to my Phoenix terminal on Earth, but it'll have to wait until after I finish this up," she replied with a shrug and another sigh.

"Were you and him . . . ?" The crippled pilot trailed off, but only got a confused look from uncomprehendingly. "You know. . . _together_?" That drew a shocked look from Adhara. "_What_?No! As attractive some species can be, I don't usually find them . . . _sexually_ attractive. I prefer Humans. . . Or at least having a Human-ish appearance and, you know, _hair._ I like hair. Very much," she stumbled over her words awkwardly as she tried to explain, making Joker snicker slightly. "Alright, alright, calm down, Ninja-Bird. It was a simple question, no need to get flustered," he said with a smirk in her direction. Adhara stuck her tongue out at him, a childish pout on her face.

It was only with him that she acted so free around, something Joker took great pride in. Even with Shepard, she had more restraint. Of course, Shepard was more of a serious man, and most of his time with Adhara was on missions. The Commander was usually too occupied running the _Normandy_ and writing reports to visit too much with his crew, though he did try to at least once after each mission. That usually equaled out to around one visit every three days for the crew.

With a slight shake of his head, Joker refocused on Adhara, who was regaling him with one of the missions she had been on, where she had accidentally shot a Batarian in the junk, causing the rest of his squad to surrender in fear of her doing the same to them. That almost made Joker break a rib from laughter alone.

–Z–Z–

"Who votes for taking the Mako into the huge ancient tunnels?" Grimm chimed, glancing at her three companions. John had decided to take Wrex, Tali, and herself down onto Ilos, which, in fact, was only possible because of Joker's 'pure awesomeness' . . . Adhara would admit she had been fully prepared to stop the Mako from crashing if it had come to that, no matter if she had to reveal her powers or not. "Right. Only if your driving, Grimm," Tali replied, earning a guffaw from Wrex and an almost pout from Shepard. _My driving isn't _that_ bad, _the Commander thought with a faint scowl under his helm.

Z–Z

"This isn't Geth tech," Grimm said, tapping the distinctly yellow force field thoughtfully. "What do you mean?" Shepard asked at the same time Tali asked, "How can you tell?" Grimm heaved a sigh.

"You ever notice the colour differences between all the tech we use? How Prothean interfaces seem to always have a green appearance? Geth usually has a blue-white, ours orange. It's a difference it the matrices, in how they operate. It's usually a minor thing, fixed with a little bit of work, but usually pointless outside of aesthetic preferences," the Phoenix explained, wondering if anyone had ever realized that fact aside from the Phoenix and a few of the more tech-savvy Humans.

"I've never seen a differently coloured omni-tool," Shepard said in confusion. Adhara pulled up her own, typing a list of things into it, causing it to turn an odd vibrant green. "Oh." "The Phoenix have made many modifications to common technology," she said in lieu of an explanation.

"Shepard! I found an opening!" Wrex called from the other side of the Mako. "Maybe it's a way around?" Tali asked hopefully. "Hopefully," Shepard agreed. He hoped Saren was still here.

Z–Z

As it turned out, it was an elevator leading to a room with one path leading to an actual working Prothean AI, albeit damaged. The first thing it said startled them all. "Confirmed survivor. Female. Diluted heritage. State your designation." "Uh. . ." Tali and Adhara exchanged confused looks. A survivor of what? "What do you mean?" Shepard asked cautiously. The AI's distortions stilled, and then a visible, four fingered clawed hand pointed directly at a startled Adhara. "Your designation," the AI ordered. "A-Adhara Grimm. What's this about? A survivor of _what_?" she asked in confusion. "What is your age, Adhara Grimm?" the AI demanded.

_What the fuck is with this thing?_ were their collective thoughts. Why was it questioning Adhara? Why was it calling her a survivor? Surely she wasn't _Prothean_! "Twenty-five. You still haven't told me what you wanted!" Adhara said angrily. "Please tell the truth. You possess Professor Verrell's experimental cybernetic implants. I will explain if you are honest," the AI replied.

There was a long pause, Adhara shifting to glance at Shepard, worrying her lip with her teeth. "Two hundred years as of fourteen standard days ago," she said softly, drawing shock and disbelief from her team mates. Before anyone could say anything, the AI spoke up again. "Truth. Thank you. I am the AI Vigil. You are the last known survivor of the Prothean extinction. Please come forward to collect the data disks."

"Data disks? On what?" Shepard asked, eying the AI suspiciously. "Why, on the Reapers and her heritage, of course. A Prothean should not be unaware of their heritage and culture." _That_ earned even more shock. "I'm a _Prothean?_ I look just like a Human!" Adhara protested. Again, Vigil's distortions stilled for a beat. "Protheans discovered a race of 'Humans,' as you call them, on the planet designated Myrrdin forty-seven cycles before the Reapers arrived. They were called Wizen and possessed untold of abilities. Many developed a form of Biotics as well. Most were found, and taken in and became Prothean. . . Please take the data disks."

With shaking hands, Adhara took them, losing herself in her thoughts. It was. . . unbelievable. Complete and utter bullshit. It had to be. The AI had to be insane. She wasn't a 'Wizen,' she _wasn't_ a Prothean! _Of course, what else _could_ you be? Dying about as well as a cockroach or a Vorcha, staying in your prime even after having birthed three children and the Verell implants – the silvery material. What else would you be?_ her mind hissed at her treacherously. She had always wanted to be _normal_, to not have to worry about people wanting to dissect her or hate her for living so long. Adhara had never wanted to live this long.

"'Ra?" Grimm looked up at Shepard, her hands still shaking. "Let's go get Saren," the Commander said with a reassuring grin. He wasn't going to press. He would let her tell him, when she figured more out.

–Z–

It was only as they raced to the deactivating Conduit that they realized just how powerful Adhara's Biotics were. An odd dark purple-blue triangle shaped field surrounded the Mako, creating a smooth and direct path to the Conduit while simultaneously holding off the fire of multiple Geth Armaments.

Adhara also radiated the same sort of energy, her eyes closed in concentration. The path built and collapsed as they went, their rear being covered as well as their front and sides. This level of Biotics was unheard of, even in Matriarchs of the Asari. Justicars had something similar they could do, but no one really found it necessary to find out if Biotics could do this sort of thing. Why would they? There had never been a situation like this before. The Phoenix let the energy dissipate as they finally hit the Conduit.

–Z–

As the squad went up the elevator, Wrex was the one to ask Adhara just how strong her Biotics were. "I could do that three more times," she admitted, slightly unsure. She wasn't used to expending so much energy at once, though. "Do Phoenix get more training to be able to do that?" Shepard asked in curiosity. Adhara shook her head. "Not usually. It's. . . random, usually. Some Phoenix are able to utilize Biotics like that, but. . . We haven't had much to go on for trying to find out why some can, and others can not," she explained, a slight frown marring her face. "But as it is somewhat similar to Stasis or a Barrier, in theory, so I suppose a Biotic with sufficient power _could _be trained to do something similar."

Before she could elaborate, the elevator slid to a halt, drawing their attention back onto the matter at hand. "Remember, let me try to talk to Saren. He could be like Benezia," Shepard said, drawing Adhara's confusion, but also her acceptance. She didn't know what the Matriarch had to do with Saren, but she'd ask after Saren was dead.

Adhara followed John for a little while, but carefully slid into the shadows to provide some covering fire, if necessary, when Tali and Wrex flanked Shepard. She did not pay much attention to what Shepard said, specifically, and as such was completely shocked when Saren pointed a pistol at his head and pulled the trigger. The Turian had ended his own life.

After waiting a few moments to be sure he was dead (and putting a round or two into him with the Commander's consent) Adhara looked up towards the fighting outside of the Tower. Shepard had ordered the saving of the _Destiny Ascension_, knowing that the Councilors – and everyone aboard the flagship – were important. It would also hopefully endear the alien races to Humanity.

Suddenly, everything started shaking and a loud, angry screeching echoing in her head and around her. Red lightning arched off of Saren's corpse, and the entirety of the Tower shook as Sovereign raged above them.

Shepard and Wrex were knocked down next to her, Tali being trapped above them, unable to use her shotgun but trying to provide support with tech attacks. Shepard cursed as the Saren-Sovereign stood, a roar leaving its non-existent throat. Sovereign leapt at Adhara, flinging her into a wall as it launched itself at Shepard. Wrex intercepted the Thing, crashing to the ground and struggling to keep it pinned. Its lack of an actual body made it too difficult, however, resulting in it slipping away to clamber on the walls like a Stalker Geth. Adhara scrambled to try and hit it with her Biotics, scowling when it moved at the last second.

"'Ra! Get it pinned in one of those boxes, if ya can!" Shepard shouted, following Sovereign and trying to hit it with his assault rifle. The woman growled, then slowly inhaled, exhaled, settling her emotions. She had to get this right. She could not fail.

"Wrex! _Move!_" Adhara shouted. The Krogan had been closing in on Sovereign, but moved back when she yelled at him. A 'box' of sorts snapped into place around Saren's frame, making it growl and try to escape. Inhuman howls and hisses emanated from Sovereign, a low angry rumble coming from the Sovereign's ship-body above them.

"How many grenades we got?" Shepard asked, studying the cage in curiosity. Wherever Sovereign hit, near black and almost emerald hexagonal designs radiated out, overlapping and dancing together. "I've got three," Wrex grunted. "Six," Adhara hissed out, her eyebrows creasing in concentration. Shepard shook his head. Adhara had always liked explosions.

"So, that makes eleven total. Think that'd be enough, 'Ra?" he asked, tilting his head at Saren's frame. "If not . . . I could try becoming a trash compactor," she replied with a dark grin. "How do you plan on getting them in there?" Wrex demanded, his eyes narrowing. Without Shepard having to ask, Adhara made another box next to Wrex, the top missing. "Pile 'em in. Quickly. This is taking a lot of concentration," the Phoenix bit out.

_The sheer force this thing is hitting with. . . Shouldn't be possible with how scrawny it is, _she thought angrily. Angry at the fact that it really had been way too long since she last had a _real_ tough opponent; angry that Saren had managed to capture her, then die before she could get at him; angry that she had been forced onto the Citadel before her godsdamned tour; angry that she had been an _alien_ without even realizing it. She had known the implants, the silvery stuff, was not any Human creation, of course, but this entire thing, her being 'Prothean', being 'Wizen', was just Fate fucking with her, _yet again_. Go fuckin' figure.

Shepard cautiously removed Adhara's grenades from a little pouch on her waist, attached with a hook instead of a magnetic clamp like he'd been expecting. Her posture told him she was well and truly pissed, but he couldn't figure out what it was aimed at. Once all the explosives were in the box – including a little bit of old C-4 he had on him, just in case – Shepard gave the signal to Adhara, who in turn merged the two boxes, triggering the grenades. Another shield, solid and dark in colour, snapped into place in front of the three as the concussive force spread from the box.

"Not quite dead. . ." Adhara murmured, hands clenching tightly. A second explosion – probably the C-4 – rang out alongside the sound of tortured wails, then the sound of little chunks of metal hitting the floor. "Done," she stated with a smug grin. The bastard was dead for good, now. He wouldn't be bothering anyone else. There was a low groan from Sovereign above them, resonating through the metal in through their feet and into their bodies. It felt as if they were being shaken from the inside out.

Slowly, their eyes were all drawn to the battle still raging above them. They saw the _Normandy_ loop around for the killing blow and exchanged triumphant looks when Sovereign began to fall to pieces. Adhara suddenly curse. "We might want to _move_," she told them as they realized _where_ a lot of the Reaper would be falling. Almost as one, they all turned and ran back to the lift, but knowing not all of them would make it.

Tali and Wrex were in the lead, but were saved from being crushed by Adhara snapping a shield over them, then over herself and Shepard. What she didn't account for was the deck heaving and twisting beneath them as heavy metal crashed into it, making them all topple over into each other. Adhara hit her head on the deck, briefly falling unconscious.

A few minutes later, Adhara came to, surroundings lit up only by the shield she had managed to maintain. Shepard had pulled off his helmet, his blue eyes focused on her. "These shields. . ." he started, brushing a hand over it. Her smaller shields were almost viridian in colour, definitely not the typical Biotic blue.

"Yeah," Adhara sighed. She knew what he meant. She had saved ten people of nearly ninety on Akuze with these shields. The Commander had seen them, been shielded by them when she had found him. Of course, at that time she hadn't technically been Adhara Grimm, having to change her name from mission to mission to avoid getting too well known. "Why were you on Akuze?" Shepard asked softly.

"Suspicious transmissions and a code hidden beneath the distress beacon. I might have stolen a fighter to get there faster, but I still hadn't been in time to stop it all from happening," Adhara explained, just as quietly. John heaved a sigh, rubbing his face. The older woman silently looked at the twisted metal covering them, trying not to remember the scene of Akuze. Soldiers, flesh melted and torn, some missing whole chunks and body parts. The stench of melting flesh, bodily fluids, and _fear_ had been so prominent. It hadn't been the worst Adhara had seen over the years, but it stuck out.

"You got a companion?" It took the Phoenix a moment to realize that John had spoken, another to decipher what he meant. 'Companion' was the general term, now, for a lover, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, or significant other while not being too rude. He had probably wanted to avoid memories of Akuze and had spouted off the first thing that came to mind.

"No. I did, a long time ago. But, we fell in love and married in a war. Aftermath got him killed by his own people, people who were our enemies," she finally admitted. "You fell in love with the enemy?" Shepard inquired, honestly surprised. That only happened in fairy tales, or so he had thought. "We met in a school tournament," Adhara explained with a smile, "Before all the fighting broke out. We kept in contact, afterwards, and after the War started, he joined me." She left out a lot of the details, of course, but it was inevitable. Couldn't very well tell John that it had been a war between Wizards and Witches, now could she?

"They just let him join your – side?" the Commander asked. That didn't sound right. "It wasn't a full out war, like the World Wars had been. It was more between less then a thousand people on each side, like two tribes fighting. We broke off into little guerrilla strike teams. Mine had a grand total of six people, including me and him. At the time, we were anywhere from seventeen to thirty-three years old, but my team knew me, like yours do you," Adhara pointed out calmly, "If I trusted him, they would trust me to know what I was doing." They had spent a long enough time musing over Adhara's past.

"What did Benezia have to do with Saren?" she asked, changing the subject. "Benezia had gotten Indoctrined when trying to help Saren see the light," Shepard replied, letting it happen. He knew better then to push on things like this. "She had been able to shove off the Indoctrination for a short time, but we ended up having to kill her." Adhara snorted. "At least Saren had the decency to do himself in," she mused grimly, "Still, so satisfying to blow up his corpse." The Commander let himself laugh and forget about the cost of the battle for now.

–Z–Z–

"I'm sorry, did you just say she was _blind_ in one eye?" Commander Shepard asked Chakwas, surprised. "Yup. I have been for _years_, Commander," Adhara chimed, examining her new scar on the corner of her right eye. The same eye had a jagged mark similar to a Lichtenberg figure, but made of smooth scarred flesh and a jagged pupil. There were no cataracts, because of surgical removal, making it very hard to tell at all. The new scar itself was sort of like a curved trident, from a piece of metal that had hit her at some point in time.

John merely sighed, then turned to Adhara fully. "I came here to ask you something, not to bother you about being half blind," he explained, "I want to know if you would like a post on the _Normandy_ for a while." He had a hopeful look on his face that Adhara knew she couldn't deny. "Alright. But not for too long. I've been meaning to take a break from missions anyway," she gave in, casting him a grin.

The next day, Adhara Grimm was settled into the co-pilot seat of the _Normandy_, chatting away to both Joker and John, as happy as she had been for a long time. Even though they dropped off the aliens of Shepard's combat team – Garrus, Liara, Tali, and Wrex – off where they wanted, the Phoenix couldn't find it in herself to be upset. The pair of boys – Joker and John – made things too interesting.

–Z–Z–

It wasn't until they were forced to go out on a patrol near Alchera that things went downhill. In Adhara's mind, all she could think was '_No!'_. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had fallen in love with the ship and her capable crew. Seeing everything torn apart was almost physically painful.

She moved with Shepard and Joker, trying to get the crippled pilot into the escape pod before the unknown ship could turn about and finish them all off. They didn't make it. Shepard had managed to get Joker into the pod and waved Adhara forward, but the unknown ship had completed its turn. The resulting beam made Sheppard and Adhara shoot in opposite directions, the latter being propelled headfirst into the wall of the escape pod and falling unconscious.

Grimm did not witness Shepard's death, him falling into the atmosphere of the planet called 'Alchera'. She was, in fact, unmoving for the better part of a day, according to Joker's omnitool. He had straightened her out, tried to straighten out an awkwardly bent leg, and generally watched her. The pilot had _seen_ her head twitch, so he was pretty sure he wasn't going to lose Hera, which was good because he wouldn't be able to take it if he had.

Thirty-one hours after the _Normandy_ had burned, Adhara stirred, nearly making him break something trying to get over to her so quickly. "Grimm? Adhara?. . . Hera, can you hear me? C'mon, talk to me, _please_." His voice was hoarse, scratchy from disuse, and cracked a bit as he worried over her, placing her head in his lap even as they spun lightly in zero-gee.

"Joker?" Her voice was very similar to his in quality, but sounded heavenly to the frantic man. "Thank God you're alright!" he exclaimed, "Shepard. . . The Commander. . ." Joker couldn't make himself say it. "It'll be alright," she told him, forcing herself to sit up, cracking her neck with a wince, then flexed her legs, much to his surprise. _Hadn't that leg been broken?_ he thought, unaware of Adhara's own frantic ones, plans forming and being discarded. Not many knew that _she_ knew when a person's time had come. Shepard's had not, and the ethereal plains whispered of things to come, things that Shepard was _needed_ for, to defend against. Her time as Hero was long up, but that didn't mean she wouldn't follow Shepard if he asked.

To ensure that, though, Adhara would have to do some rather unsavory things. Her garnet eyes landed on Joker again. "You'd follow Shepard to Hell, if her were alive, wouldn't you?" she asked, "Trust him no matter who he worked for?" The pilot frowned at her in confusion. "Well, so long as it's not the Reapers, yeah. . . He's a great commander." The woman sighed softly. "Death can be an oddly transient thing. . . in this 'verse, with our technology," she said, then leaned in to whisper her plans, despite no one being around to hear them, except Joker and herself.

Terrible times were coming, and they needed a Hero to lead them. That Hero would be John Shepard.

**A/N: I've gotten well into ME2 in my notebook – yes, I write all my fics in a notebook, then type them up whenever I have a chance, which isn't too often. This chapter is about. . . eh, eight and a half notebook pages, widerule, front and back. I've got around forty pages. Thing is, I won't type up anymore until I get a bit of feedback on this, because I love hearing what you lot think about my work. It's actually kinda disappointing to me that WiWi? got so few reviews, because NM had gotten quite a few in its first week. –shrugs- Enough with the selfpity.**

**Do a few things:**

**1: Leave a review**

**2: Try and guess WHO 'Adhara' (Who, I will say now, is my FemHP with partial Metamorph abilities.) married, had children with, then died. Seriously. I wanna see who gets it. **

**3: Then, try and guess who her kids'll be. First two are Twins – not necessarily in the same verse, but they do look alike – one boy and one girl; the third is a guy.**


	2. The Shield

**A/N: This is the next bit of Zenku, obviously. Be warned, it actually is very different and might confuse my readers. . . hopefully not too much. Still, if you got questions or concerns, lemme know! Don't sit there like a lump of mold on a chair with no clue what's going on. O.o And according to the ME wiki, I made a minor miscalculation in 'Adhara's' age. . . It was only three years off, so her proper age during ME1 and the start of ME2 was really 203. . . in 2185 (the large chunk of ME2) she'd be 205. . . . Uber long starting AN, sorry.**

**A small timeskip or a scene change is **Z-Z_Thoughts_

**A larger timeskip/SC is **-Z-"Speaking in common language."

**A complete scene or CoF change is **-Z-Z- _"Foreign language/emphasis."_

"_-Radio/Comms.-" _

**(This story is a Multiple Universe Crossover. The exact Universes will be detailed at the end of the chapters as they occur, but I still hope to give some hints. . . Oh, yeah, and most of the Universes have some form of space-travel involved, except for two – one of which is the HP verse.)**

**REMINDER: Shepard in this is a Soldier, Colonist, and both Sole Survivor/War Hero. He has the default appearance (and blue eyes, the bright bright blue eyes) . . . I forgot to mention he's a 'Paragade'. . . He's a badass, does badass things, but does the right thing and does right by people. **

**WARNINGS: Out of Character-ness; Cursing; Oddness in general; mentions of alcohol, sex, etc; Violence; Possibility of Confused timelines by author; unbeta'd-ness.**

**Recommended Songs:**_** Chasing the Sun **_**by the Wanted, **_**Castle of Glass**_** by Linkin Park, and **_**Frontline **_**by Pillar**

**And to quote one of my favorite shows, **_**Allons-y**_**, everyone! (Oh! And, 'Adhara' is in this. . .**__**kind of. :3 You'll see, and hopefully guess when – or before – she's really introduced to the **_**Normandy**_**'s crew.)**

_**The Shield**_

**. . .**

If there was one thing Shepard _hadn't_ expected after dying while searching for non-existent Geth activity, was waking up again, let alone waking up because of the terrorists known as Cerberus. He didn't think he was above death. In fact, he was glad that he died and his friends didn't, namely Adhara and Joker.

Now, he was here on this filthy station in the Terminus Systems with a high-on caffeine, squirrel-like Salarian named Mordin Solus and the two Cerberus lackeys Miranda Lawson and Jacob Tyler, trying to recruit a vigilante called 'Archangel'. As they paced slowly at the rear of the mercs, biding their time, they caught snippets of conversation from the others.

"Heard there were some odd things protectin' this bastard," an Asari murmured to her companions. "What do you mean?" a Batarian grunted boredly. "_Mechs_, you idiot! And not your usual kind, either, these ones are strange as hell!" the Asari bit out in return, obviously not liking his tone. Before the Squad could hear any more, the mercs' leader yelled for everyone to move forward.

As the squad was taking out most of the mercs, getting almost overwhelmed due to their lack of synchronization and the quality of the Blue Sun fighters, the mysterious 'Mecha' – as Archangel had called his 'protector' – finally made her appearance. One moment, there was no one, the next, there was a black armored figure weaving through the crowd of blue-armored mercs, silvered figures flanking the crowd.

When a gunship made its presence known, a giant silver cat-mech took it out with a sharp order from the black-clad woman. Shepard was_ sure _that no one had taken out a gunship that fast before. Archangel, who was really Garrus Vakarian, gave Mecha a warm greeting. The woman peeled off her helm to reveal a silver-eyed albino. On her cheek was a long scar, disrupting her china-doll beauty. She rested her helm on her hip, giving everyone a glance over.

"I think it's about time I introduced myself, Mister Vakarian. I am Ira, codenamed Aegis for the duration of this mission – to assist Commander Shepard in his goal of taking down the Collectors." 'Ira' had a Russian lilt to her voice, oddly suited to her appearance.

"What do you mean, you're to assist me? How do you even know I'm going after the Collectors?" Shepard asked warily. A slight smirk tilted up Ira's mouth. "You think Cerberus is devoid of spies? I am a Phoenix, Shepard. The Phoenix has eyes everywhere."

The Cerberus lackeys weren't too happy to learn of this new information, but Shepard paid them no mind. "Really? How do I know you're telling the truth?" Another, more gentle, smirk lifted Ira's lips. She casually strode over to him, then leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

"Ra couldn't make it, John. Cerberus hates her – and she doesn't like them. Filthy dogs." There was acid in her voice as she glanced over at Lawson and Taylor, obviously agreeing with Adhara's point of view on Cerberus. _If only I could tell him the truth_, she thought in regret.

"Aegis. . . Latin for 'shield'. Why 'shield'?" Mordin piped up, tilting his head at her. Ira patted Solus' cheek fondly. "You know why, silly Salarian," Aegis chuckled, "If the situation calls for it, I'm to protect you and your crew from death at all costs, Shepard," she clarified for the Commander. He nodded once in reluctant acceptance.

"Let's get back to the _Normandy_," he said, a faint frown on his face. They followed him, not noticing Ira's mech folding into a cube a little bigger than a Human heart and being stored away into a side pouch that definitely shouldn't have been able to fit it.

Z-Z

Aegis concerned Joker. Not because no real explanation was given, no. . . She concerned him because, somehow, the Commander was already attached to her. Joker knew that John had been fond of Adhara – everyone had been – but with how quickly he had bonded to this new woman. . . that really made the pilot edgy. It shouldn't be possible to get that fond, that quickly.

"You don't like me." The statement made Jeff jump, hitting his knee on the console and making him curse in pain. "какать," Ira muttered, "I apologize. I did not mean to startle you." Joker cast her a 'what-the-fuck' look, "What?" She, in turn cast him a confused look, "Was I not clear?" A frustrated and pained sigh left Jeff's lips, his hands gently massaging his injured knees, "What did you _say_?" It took a moment for Ira to understand. "It was a curse word, that is all."

Joker grunted in acceptance. "So what if I don't like you? I don't like anyone, in case you haven't noticed, _Aegis_," he bit out sourly. "Your little ninja friend told me good things of you. I am just surprised that you only show care for the Commander."

_Ninja. . . The only ninja friend I have is - !_ "You know her?" Joker asked, his hazel eyes wide. He hadn't spoken to Adhara in quite some time. They had sent messages back and forth, of course, but face to face? Not since she had somehow gotten Cerberus to revive Shepard and him to be hired as his pilot.

"Yes," she said simply. _She looks exactly like Adhara_, Joker suddenly thought, and, as if she knew of his realization, Ira put a finger to her lips, giving him a secretive wink. "Tell my ninja I miss her, would you?" he said with a low chuckle. _Adhara, you sneaky son of a bitch,_ he mused,_ Why do you have to look so different?_ He had a feeling it had to do with Cerberus.

-Z-

"EDI, get Garrus and Aegis to meet me at the airlock, would you?" Shepard said with a faint sigh. _This is going to be a fantastic mission. Why do I need two scientists?_ he thought with faint disgruntlement. "I have notified Mister Vakarian, but I cannot seem to locate Miss Aegis," the shackled AI said, a hint of annoyance to her artificial voice. Shepard pinched his nose bridge, _Seriously?_ "Joker, I don't suppose you know where our dear Aegis is, do you?" He wasn't being sarcastic, no, would he do _that_?

In reply, the pilot flicked open the comms to the Cargo bay. "Hey, Ira, Shep wants you up here." He flicked it back off and went back to surfing the extranet. A long pause. _Was he pulling my leg. . . .?_ Shepard wondered.

"What did you need?" The Commander nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun to look at Aegis, who seemed to materialize nearby. "Gorrammit! _Don't_ do that!" he said in a scolding voice. "Yes, sir," the Phoenix replied, amusement completely unhidden. The once-dead man grumbled, pouting in Ira's eyes.

"This mission is mainly to test your abilities," the Commander said, "In a _team_ situation. Please stay with Garrus and me, so we can evaluate your abilities – and not your mech's, alright?" A frown crossed Ira's face. "Sir, I feel it wise to mention that stealth and my mech are my strongest points. My frontal combat and Biotics aren't as advanced." "What's your rank?" Shepard asked, sighing. He didn't believe that Adhara would send them someone incapable. "The same as hers, but – " "Ira, please. I trust that you are more than capable of fitting into our team. On later missions with us, you can go to your strongest points, but this is just to evaluate your 'weaker', as you say, abilities." The Phoenix acquiesced, sliding her helmet on with a faint hiss.

Like Adhara's armor – from what Shepard remembered, at least – Ira's was unique. It was, as she called it, Phoenix armor, a medium armor optimized for all classes and customizable. The helm itself was a straight line, glowing a faint blue. One side of the helm had a silver-grey symbol on it – a line inside of a circle inside of a triangle. An odd symbol, but. . . Adhara had also had such a smbol, on the back of both her gauntlets. Perhaps it was the Phoenix symbol.

-Z-

On the surface of Korlus, Ira proved to be better than a lot of the N7s that Shepard had known. She was a crack shot and had the ability to evade easily when the Blue Sun or the Krogans got too close. "You do know that having a Krogan, a Turian, _and_ a Salarian in close quarters might not be the best idea, yes?" Ira asked. Shepard made a disgruntled noise, giving a curt nod as he ducked behind a wall.

"_And_ that Mordin used to be Special Tasks?" That gave the Commander – and Vakarian – pause.

"How do you know that?" Garrus asked in a quizzical voice.

"Phoenix, remember?" Ira reminded gently.

"But. . . . You're telling us that Phoenix spied on the spies!" the Turian exclaimed. In his mind, what she was saying was utterly impossible. You don't spy on the STG without them _letting_ you.

"To a point." It was a non-answer, and everyone knew it. _Zenku. They spy on the spies – they spy on everyone. Zenku, the 'mercenary' group founded by myself, the people who keep society from stagnating, who keep the corrupt out of power when possible. We guard the whole – not for the greater good; no. No, Zenku stood for what was _right_. Zenku took people from every species – even Yahg._

"What's 'too a point' supposed to mean?" Garrus asked, doing the Turian version of a frown. Ira sighed faintly, then yanked off her helm. "Phoenix pays for some insider information, that is all. Phoenix is comprised of Humans – we do not have the ability to get into STG ranks, unless as experiments. Zenku and the Shadow Broker provide that information." The Turian nodded in understanding, but the Commander was confused.

"What's Zenku?" Shepard asked. Both Ira and Garrus had almost forgotten he had been dead – he just jumped right back into life so easily. "Zenku is a merc group, Shepard," Garrus said, "They actually started spreading out from the Terminus systems about the time you, uh, died. Turns out, they were pretty much ruling the Terminus Systems before that – maintaining a façade of rampant piracy so the Council would keep their faces out of their business."

"A merc group did all that?" John asked in shock. His experience with merc groups was mostly that they _were_ rampant pirates, people that didn't even need to put up a façade.

"Surprisingly, they're actually good people. They couldn't touch Aria – or Omega – but the rest of the Terminus is mostly under Zenku's control," Garrus said with a shrug, "They, uh, helped me out a bit. They're pretty strong, too."

Shepard didn't know what to say. Sighing, he just made a note to ask someone – Joker, Ira, or Garrus – to brief him on important happenings of the last few years. Their new Phoenix said nothing to contradict the Turian, or anything really. She just followed when he gave the order to move forward.

Z-Z

John made a mental note to not get on Aegis' bad side. Despite her statements to the contrary, he was absolutely sure she specialized in widespread chaos. The Blue Sun mercenaries were _afraid_. Ira made it Hell for their enemies. She knew when to hit and how hard to hit without a word from John or Garrus. One hit from her usually meant the death of the one hit.

By the time they got to Okeer, a veritable massacre was left in the intruders' wake. The Krogan Warlord was pleased with their arrival, but rambled on about the Genophage and the worst insult someone could endure – being ignored. Shepard chose to allow Okeer's 'legacy' on the _Normandy_, trusting his crew to be able to handle it if the 'legacy' became hostile.

Okeer died, securing his legacy, thanks to a neuro gas pumped into the chamber by Jedore, the woman who had ordered Okeer to create the cloned Krogans. She still died by the shore party's hands, of course. There was no love lost between Garrus and the Blue Sun, let alone with the Commander and Ira – both of whom had a bad past with Blue Sun.

John turned to Aegis as soon as they had loaded the tank onboard. "What do you think?" he asked, gesturing at the tank. The woman stepped forward, placing her palm on the glass between her and the artificial Krogan thoughtfully.

"I think he could prove to be a worthy companion, if he is as intelligent as Okeer believed," Aegis replied softly, staring first at the Krogan inside, then at her reflection in the glass. The faceplate of her helmet stared right back, unfamiliar and strange. _So long since you were last in battle-mode, Cree. So long since you were last in full armor and fighting for the lives of so many. . . ._

**A/N: I got a new computer. It has a different version of Word that helps me when 'then' or 'than' is supposed to be put down. :] **_**For those of you who read 'Was It Worth It?':**_** I am a procrastinator when typing things up. I hope to have a new segment of that up, either as a new chapter to it or as a new story bit soon-ish.**

**ALSO . . . This chapter is rather short. It seemed like a good place to end it, but I'm already working on the next one.**

**A lot of you who reviewed guessed Adhara/Ira's husband correctly – It was indeed Viktor Krum. I also decided to tell you lot that this story so far encompasses five universes: Harry Potter, Mass Effect, Firefly, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Freelancer. DE:HR – the events in the game – will only be mentioned, as it was set in 2027 :]**


	3. The Son

**A/N: . . . Okay, I've gotten quite a few Followers for this. I apologize for the extremely large update gap D: My plunnies have been breeding like crazy. Ideas for AC/HP, Halo/HP, DE:HR/HP, DW/HP, RE/HP, Dishonored/HP, DmC/HP, TWD/HP. . . . So many plunnies –sighs–**

**And, guys, tell me if you want our woman to have an Animangi form. I'm leaning towards No, right now, but if you want, I will. There's a bit of an explanation about HALLOW at the end of the chapter.**

**A NOTE TO THOSE OF YOU ALSO ON AO3, it's easier for me to update on that site – I'm under the username KiraKyuu there, and my stories will most often be updated there first.**

**A small timeskip or a scene change is **Z-Z

**A larger timeskip/SC is **-Z-

**A complete scene or CoF change is **-Z-Z-

_Thoughts _or_ Spells_

**Harbinger**

"Speaking in common language."

"_Foreign language/emphasis."_

"_-Radio/Comms.-" _

**REMINDER: Shepard in this is a Soldier, Colonist, and both Sole Survivor/War Hero. He has the default appearance with bright blue eyes. Also a Paragade.**

**WARNINGS: Out of Character-ness; Cursing; Oddness in general; mentions of alcohol, sex, etc; Violence; Possibility of Confused timelines by author; unbeta'd-ness; Oh, and some Alenko-bashing. I don't like Alenko. He's too. . . Boy-scout-ish. And whiney. But I'll tone the bashing down for those who like him. I'll even give a reason for it. Maybe. SPOILERS FOR SERENITY AND LIBERTY TAKEN UPON THE ENDING OF SAID MOVIE.**

**Recommended:**_** Burn It Down**_** by Linkin Park, **_**Am I Not Human**_** by Two Steps From Hell**

_**ALSO, **_**I changed this from the original version on . Which I forgot I had up. After I accidentally deleted it. So. Here's this. It's kinda the same, up until they meet him, so. . . the last bit of the chapter. Sorry.**

_**The Second Son**_

**. . .**

Ira paced back and forth, irritated that the Commander had decided to retrieve this 'Jack' person with only Garrus and the still-unknown 'Grunt'. He had refused her offer of taking a mech along, because of the stigma with AI. He also had prepared lightly, believing they wouldn't be attacked. That alone made Aegis worried, because fate loved kicking their butts to keep them aware of everything that could happen.

Joker, of course, understood her worry. He understood a lot of things about her. It was understandable that a Blue Sun run prison was a big '_be cautious'_ in her language. It should have worried Shepard, too, but the man was thick sometimes, thinking allies stayed allies the entire time. He was a straight forward man, and missed subtleties more often than not, which was another reason for him to be not so good at hacking or stealth.

"Stop pacing. You're going to wear a rut into the plates," Joker sighed, tugging on the brim of his hat. Translation, _Stop making me worry, too. Have faith in him._

"Sorry," the woman replied softly. Reluctantly, Ira slinked away. She would worry elsewhere, probably while upgrading or modifying her mechs.

As it turned out, Ira had a reason to worry. Being Blue Sun meant they weren't willing to let a chance at a payday like Shepard pass by. As the crew waited for him to return, though, Aegis finally dozed off – getting back into the rhythm of war, of having loved ones going into battle, of getting sleep where she could. They were horrid habits and despite her attempts otherwise, Ra had never been able to break them. Thirty years and she still let her people go out and fight – let them go, knowing they could die. Every time she did that, it felt like a little bit more of who she was died – that the parts she played grew colder with each incarnation. At the very least, Ira grew a cold shield with which to protect herself.

Z-Z

Ira scowled at the strange corpse on the ground. It had four eyes – _Like a Conqueror did,_ her mind hissed – and an insect-like structure. Kovu took in its scent, clearing his nose with an almighty snort of disgust. _Smells wrong, looks wrong. What am I missing? _she asked herself impatiently, narrowing her eyes at the creature.

"Aegis?" Shepard queried, disrupting her train of thought.

"Weak points are the eyes, the pink connective tissues, and fire, judging by the chitin-like exterior. They're much like insects – or, at least, _this_ type is," Ira explained what she had found easily, leaving out the _wrongness_ of the body. It wasn't as if she had a specific reason for her to find it wrong, she just _did_.

"All that in five minutes?" Garrus asked, making Grunt snort derisively.

"You'd be surprised at what a skilled hunter can find in even _one_ minute, Turian," the Krogan growled. Ira tilted her masked head at him in what appeared to be consideration. None the less, the Commander accepted the information Ira had managed to gather, moving onward.

In response to her discovery, the Phoenix added an incendiary modification to her weaponry, and let herself use Incinerate more freely. _Fire melts their outer shell, searing their nerve endings until they are virtually vegetables or ash and glue, yet they press on. Why?_ Ira thought angrily. Even mercs usually had the good sense to at least panic a _little_ when they were hit with fire or they saw their companions burning alive and screaming in their armour. _Why would these creatures care so little for their own comrades?_

Unless they couldn't. Unless they were being controlled. As if brought out by her thoughts, one of the Collector's began to shake and glow.

**Assuming control,**__echoed in her mind, more telepathy than over the comms.

_**Reaper,**_she hissed internally, almost casually bringing down the controlled Collector's body in tandem with Kovu. _They can't even do their _own _dirty work,_ Ira sneered, glaring at the mess of Collector corpses that littered Horizon.

"Hey, you coming?" Shepard. Ira followed the Commander swiftly.

In her trail was death. Few of the Collectors gave her any worry, and she killed them swiftly. At least, until they met the Collector's general, the Praetorian. Its weapon was not unlike a larger version of the Collector beam weapon Ira had pried from a dead Collector's claws; it was also comparable to the beam that had torn the first _Normandy_ apart, killing both Shepard and herself.

It ate through even Ira's more advanced shields with absurd ease, searing her armour and raising its internal temperature to a near unbearable level. More than once, she got in between the beam and her teammates, even Grunt, not wanting to risk their lives.

Ira made it all look coincidental, at least as much as she could. After all, it wasn't like she _belonged_ in this time. It was only because she found HALLOW that she became. . . whatever she was. HALLOWed, or augmented, or cursed, or just. . . surviving.

A sudden mind-scrambling pain made Ira realize she had stood still for far too long. The beam had melted her armour and was currently searing – charring? – the flesh of her shoulder and back. With a hoarse cry of pain, she jolted away from the beam, but only after ensuring there was no one that would be hit by the beam. _Why did I lose focus? Stop it! Get back in the rhythm! _she scolded harshly. She didn't need to act like a story-book character, getting thoughtful in the middle of battle.

By now, Ira was regretting leaving most of her mechs aboard the _Normandy_, as Alucard would have been very useful against this Collector. Still, she made do with the less-than-ideal support from Kovu.

First: Get out of the way of the beam; to do that, she had to get on top of the Praetorian and distract it from the others. Simple enough – Ra had done it in her first war, with Giants and Trolls; and in her second war with the Human exo-skeletons and defense bots. And now she even had Kovu to speed things along.

Without a word from his maker, the mech in question got into position. Aegis told Shepard to keep it distracted for a moment, then ran as fast as she could at Kovu, springing off of his back just as he began to jump. The momentum carried her up, up, and above the Praetorian, sealing its fate. With a feral smirk, Ira began to glow a dark blue, making herself heavier and heavier until – _WHAM!_ She collided with the general's back. It skittered through the air, surprised as much as she had seen a Collector be.

**What is this?**__it asked, anger actually becoming apparent. Another smirk danced on Ira's lips, but she said nothing to the creature.

_Sectumsempra,_ she bit out, letting the magic seep through her hands and into the Praetorian's shell. Large gouges opened up all over its shell, drawing a deafening and metallic screech from the general.

**What are you doing? You . . . **the general trailed off as the Praetorian began to disintegrate. **You are **_**Wizen**_**. You will **_**die!**_

It began to climb up into the air, taking Ira up. The Reaper intended to make her fall to her death. With a small scowl, Ira watched the ground grow further and further away. _I'll live, _she thought almost bitterly, _Go ahead and try to kill me._ The Praetorian under her finally finished dying, sending her plummeting to the surface.

"_-Ira!-"_ Shepard bellowed. The Phoenix winced minutely.

"Don't worry so much," she mumbled half-heartedly. About four meters from the ground, she cast a heavy _Repulso_ at the soil, slowing her decent. Three more times she cast it, and finally, she could drop without using her Biotics into the small crater she had made.

"You – Are you hurt, Ira?" Shepard demanding, yanking off his helm as the Collector ship left atmo.

In reply, she crumpled to her knees, gasping. _You're getting excessively reckless,_ Ira thought with a dry chuckle, _You __**are**__going to die here. Just not in the way it had intended._ Vaguely, she felt Shepard applying medi-gel, and realized – he was going to worry.

"Hey, Shep?" she croaked.

"Tell me later. Be quiet for now, alright?" he retorted almost immediately. Her gut clenched – both in physical pain and mental.

"No. I'm dying. There's something –" she tried to say, but John cut her off again.

"You are _not_ dying. Not from _that!"_ he bit back, his voice cracking slightly. With a small growl, she tried to pry off her helm, but her fingers scrabbled weakly against it. Kovu let out a sad whine while Garrus and Grunt looked on silently.

"I'm sorry." The mechanic they had rescued, the one that had told them of the defense system, was there, too. He was the one that had spoken up.

"No, no, we couldn't – we tried but we couldn't save them all," Ira managed to say before Shepard shushed her again. The mechanic just looked away. She wondered if HALLOW was seeping into the wound yet. If it had stopped her from dying – or if it would let her die, then resurrect her. She hasn't yet figured out why it varied.

"Stop talking. The shuttle's on its way. Ira, don't you _dare_ die here," Shepard ordered, his voice rising in anger and helplessness. He knew that people have died from a less severe burn. He knew that the chances of Ira actually making it alive to the _Normandy_ were slim to none. That doesn't mean he would let her _die_ here, without hope. That he wouldn't have hope otherwise.

"Commander Shepard."

Shepard squeezed his blue eyes shut tightly, trying to reign in a sudden burst of anger. "Go, Alenko. Just – Leave us alone," he replied. _Why did Alenko have to be here?_

"No. Not until I get some answers," Alenko persisted, a sharp edge to his voice – one that hadn't been there prior to Shepard's death. Oddly, Grunt stepped forward first, a snarl on his face as he, too, removed his helm.

"Why don't you leave, human? You _clearly_ aren't welcome here," the Krogan spat out, teeth bared in a not-so-subtle warning.

"Not until I get my God-damned answers, _Krogan!_" Alenko retorted angrily, giving Grunt a fierce glare. The Krogan chortled darkly.

"You're like a pup, puffing up in anger and swiping dull claws at everything," he sneered derisively.

"Get lost, Alenko. You have no right to demand answers from Shepard," Garrus added, also giving the Turian equivalent of a sneer.

"No right? No _right?_" Alenko hissed, "I thought Shepard was dead! I – You have no idea what I went through, Shepard." His voice had grown quieter when he turned to address the Commander.

"Well, I _did_ die, so no, I don't know what you went through, Kaiden. Please, go. Go back to the Alliance. Stop worrying about me – pretend _nothing_ happened."

His words confused the ground team, but the sudden flare of hurt on Alenko's face couldn't have been missed by any of them. The Biotic's face and eyes finally hardened, taking on the appearance of shattered glass – at least to Garrus.

"Fine. _Fine._ If that's the way you want it, _John_, I'll go. Just don't expect me to _help_ you the next time we meet," Alenko growled, spinning on his heel and storming away.

Garrus looked back and forth between a dejected Shepard and the pissed off Lieutenant before shaking his head. _I think I missed something. Doesn't matter right now,_ he finally decided, calling the _Normandy _for pickup. Right now, all that mattered was getting Ira back on her feet . . . Or giving her a proper burial.

Z-Z

Chakwas reviewed her data pad, a frown marring her features. Ira was fine – mending far better than she had ever seen a non-Krogan heal – and it wasn't because of the doctor's doing. No. It was just as the Phoenix's heartbeat was failing that an odd organic-mechanical material began to ooze out of the fourth degree burn area, spreading to the more severe fifth degree burn location.

The material in question seemed like slime, or perhaps plasma, and was in fact an odd silver-white colour. It shone in the light, holding itself tight over the wound. Nothing Chakwas tried had any effect on the material and since it had made its appearance, Ira had relaxed. A minty-metallic scent came from the material as well, reminding the doctor of healing for some reason.

"EDI," Chakwas said, unconsciously looking at the AI's holopad.

"Yes, Doctor?" EDI replied.

"Any and all medical information pertaining to Ira, Aegis, and any other Phoenix is hereby classified as my eyes only, requiring my express permission and presence to access. Am I understood?" Chakwas asked seriously. There was a long pause.

"Yes, Doctor. I will do my best to keep the information hidden," EDI eventually said, an odd note of earnestness in 'her' voice. Chakwas nodded in acceptance, then asked the AI to inform Shepard and those concerned that Ira would be fine, but was not up for any missions or visitations.

The next thing Chakwas knew, the entire ship rang with the announcement. Apparently, everyone had been concerned, which was. . . odd. The doctor hadn't been aware that Ira had managed to integrate herself into the crew, as the Phoenix was antisocial, to say the very least.

Perhaps things would go more smoothly this time around, with this new Phoenix.

Z-Z

Ira followed Shepard onto Illium, disregarding Chakwas' orders to stay in bed and rest. She was two hundred years old, she could do damn well what she pleased! Soon after stepping foot on Illium, however, an Asari pulled her aside.

"Miss? Liara T'Soni asked me to escort you to her office," the Asari said. With a brief scowl, she let herself be led – like a bloody _pet_ – to T'Soni.

When the opportunity showed itself, Ira typed a few 'commands' into an omnitool, and morphed into the form she took when leading Zenku. Amethyst eyes shone from under vibrant red hair, scars vanishing from sight and her skin darkening to a sun-kissed gold. She had also made it change with a vibrant orange gradient, as if she had worn a hologram over herself.

It thankfully didn't take too long to meet Liara. The blue-skinned Asari dismissed her secretary, greeting the leader of Zenku warmly.

"Leader, I'm happy you decided to stop by," T'Soni said with a smile.

"Informer," Leader returned, a small smile dancing on her lips. No one in Zenku went by their name, only what they did. If a situation called for a name, it was usually an alias. Hallow was 'Leader's' alias.

"I heard Shepard was alive and well," the Informer said, turning to look out on the city scape.

"I keep my promises, Liara. You should know this above all else," Leader scolded softly, frowning at the Asari.

"Pardon me if I sounded . . . ungrateful, Leader. It's just. . . Shepard was _dead_," Liara replied, "People can't come back to life, like magic."

"Technology and credits can achieve almost anything now, Liara." Before Leader could continue, the Informer's omnitool beeped.

"What was the saying you Humans have? Speak of the demon and he will come?" Liara half-asked as the doors slid open to reveal Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin.

"Liara. It's good to see you," Shepard greeted neutrally, his encounter with Alenko fresh on his mind. Liara greeted him warmly, hugging him.

"Perhaps I should leave," Leader said, already intent on doing so.

"Nonsense, Hal . . . Shepard, this is my friend, Hal. Hal, this is Commander Shepard," Liara insisted. 'Hal' scowled at Liara, not wanting to have to lie to Shepard.

"I'm sorry if I was interrupting, Hal," Shepard said, holding out a gauntleted hand. She took it, to be polite.

"You're not. I was just making sure Lia didn't do anything _stupid_," Hallow replied, giving Liara a flat look.

"Like what?" Shepard asked, visibly amused when T'Soni flushed in embarrassment.

"Before she answers – we have something to take care of," Hallow interjected. The Informer nodded in agreement.

"There is a spy," Liara explained, "He belongs to the Shadow Broker. Can you look for him, Shepard?"

The Commander was cautious for a good reason. Taking out a Shadow Broker operative was no easy task let alone one that would have no repercussions. Eventually, though, he agreed, because it was Liara he was helping and not a random person.

The spy in question did indeed turn out to be the secretary, as Hallow had thought. The Asari had just been too eager, too subservient to be anything but suspicious.

When Shepard finally asked what Liara had been going to do that Hal considered stupid, Hallow sighed.

"Planning on killing the Shadow Broker. Informer, I'll send three Lieutenants with you, alongside Alucard. That should be plenty to kill him," Hallow eventually said, partially shrugging. Alucard was a mech with the ability to regenerate lost armour from his own internal stores, provided by his defeated enemies. He was also a psychopathic sociopath who seemed overly fond of the Asari for some reason.

"Who are you, Hal?" Shepard asked, eyeing her carefully. She cast him a small smirk.

"Hallow. It's Hallow to you. At least until you get rid of the dogs trying to control you, then I'll gladly reveal just _who_ I really am."

Z-Z

Ira frowned at Shepard. "How did you find out about that?" she asked, even though she already knew. They had taken Grunt to Tuchanka, seeking a 'cure' for his 'sickness'. Wrex must have told them.

"Wrex might have said something," Shepard admitted.

"The fact that I had a son isn't anyone's business except my own, Shepard. Just . . . Leave it, _alright_?" Eventually, Shepard agreed.

_It's because everyone else is asking for something, before we die,_ Ira thought. _He thinks I would want to go to his grave before I lose the chance to. Why would I want to torture myself, going back there? I love my son, I don't want to be reminded that he's __**dead**__. Who __**would**__?_

-Z-

The _Normandy_ coasted along the edges of the Rim systems, trying to avoid startling the Rim ships too much. They were cautious of rogues, if only because they didn't want to kill anyone if they didn't have to.

Suddenly, a file opened on every station. A video. Of a woman pleading and screaming and dying. About Miranda and unspeakable horrors committed upon the planet.

"It's what exposed Cerberus." Those in the cockpit jumped at Ira's declaration.

"W-What?" Joker asked, visibly shaken by what he had seen.

"Cerberus was the branch in charge of handling operations like these. When the Alliance found out. . ." Ira trailed off, letting them fill in the blanks.

"How do you know that?" Miranda asked bitingly, glaring at the Phoenix coldly.

"My mentor was the one who exposed it," Ira replied blandly, giving the XO a calm look.

"The Grim Reaper was your mentor?" the 'perfect woman' sneered in disbelief. Ira said nothing, instead turning back to Shepard.

"I know where we can find out who broadcast that, if you're interested in doing so," she explained softly. Shepard looked back at the frozen video, nodding once.

"Do it."

Z-Z

They approached the moon slowly, passing through the ion storm and remnants of other ships that were silent. Some looked to be very old junk heaps, others recently dead in space.

"Who is it that we're meeting?" Shepard asked, looking through the windows curiously at the wrecks. Ira gave him a grim smile.

"Someone I've known for a long time," she said simply, indicating where on the moon that the _Normandy_ should land to Joker.

"Am I the only one getting a bad feeling?" Joker asked quietly, doing as directed cautiously.

"No. Something _is_ wrong," Ira confirmed, "He should have hailed us by now."

Shepard's eyes landed on a grounded Alliance wreck. It wasn't in good condition, showing battle scars and had dents as if it had been rammed.

"Does your friend own any of his own ships?" Shepard asked, looking over at the pale-toned woman.

"No – Only a Firefly a friend of his built for him," Ira replied, moving over to see what had caught his attention. At the sight of the ship, she frowned, then looked over at Joker.

"Land near the docking bay – it should be at the coordinates I told you. Shepard, may I go ahead alone?" Shepard stared at Ira, studying her. She seemed completely serious.

"Why would I let you go into a potentially dangerous situation alone while you're still healing?" he asked, seemingly calm. He had no intentions of letting her go off on her own, not with the carnage around them.

"Because you aren't used to operating on the Rim. No one is. You don't have a Rim's rig, nor their speech patterns. You don't know their culture," Ira stated easily.

Shepard shrugged. "I'll stand behind you, looking pretty. You aren't going alone, Ira, and that's final." His order made her grit her teeth, but she acquiesced.

She went out unarmoured, carrying only a pistol on her hip in a simple harness. Ira could tell almost everyone was surprised that she had such a thing with her, let alone the simple lower-class civilian clothes she had picked up on Illium. Things weren't looking good.

Ira and Shepard were grim-faced when they entered a large area, filled with monitors and systems beyond Shepard's knowledge. Blood was splattered on some of the screens and smeared on the floor.

"Ira . . ." Shepard started, but the odd woman just held up a hand.

"He isn't a normal person, John," she told him, her eyes hidden.

When she didn't elaborate, Shepard settled himself, his blue eyes scanning the room nervously. Really, she was allowed to have secrets – he wasn't exactly forthcoming himself. Distantly, he heard a shuffling sound.

"Cry!" a new voice called out, seemingly pleased.

They both turned to the voice – making John realize that Ira's grey eyes now had a large amount of malachite-green in them.

A tanned man stood, leaning against a doorway he hadn't noticed, pale from blood loss and hunched painfully over his middle.

"Hello, 'Verse. What happened here?" Ira replied calmly. John frowned slightly, confused.

"Well. . . Your boy found out about Miranda, brought it to me. He found some data linking the Alliance to it, and had me broadcast it, so the Alliance couldn't cover it up again," Verse replied.

Ira frowned, her face creasing in confusion. "My boy?" she asked, glancing at John, then back at Verse.

"Mal?" Verse prodded, drawing his eyebrows together.

"Verse. . . Mal died during the Battle of Serenity Valley, on Hera," Ira said slowly, as if Verse was delusional.

Verse shook his head. "Who told you that?" he asked, sliding over to one of his monitors.

John noticed his clothes were soaked in blood and silver shone through the hole in the back of his shirt. Odd.

"What do you mean, _who told me that?_ Are you saying Malcolm isn't dead?" Ira demanded, a cold, biting tone in her voice.

_Who would be that cruel? _John wondered, frowning faintly. Letting a mother believe her child was dead was not something that should happen.

"Same as I told Mal _you_ weren't dead," Verse said bringing up a video feed. It showed a man limping through a hallway, obviously injured. More people were waiting for him – a girl, two women, and two men. And Alliance soldiers. _"-Let them go.-"_ The screen flicked to another man, this one also injured, but holding onto a radio. The soldiers parted.

"Where is he?" John asked when Ira just stared at the screen.

"I can ask Badger to send a wave to him. You'll have to find a way to get to one of the outer planets. Alright?" The last question was directed at Ira, who nodded slowly.

Z-Z

Waiting for Ira's son made everyone tense. Most of the crew didn't know what they were doing, orbiting a Rim planet, and that made them twitchy. When another ship finally appeared, Joker told Shepard, who told Aegis, who in turn asked for Joker to hail them.

"EDI?" Joker asked as the ship drew closer. "Attempting to establish contact," the AI replied quietly. It took a few long moments, but a video feed eventually popped up.

"_-Who is this?-"_ Joker almost didn't hear the odd pained sound that Ira uttered.

"This is the _Normandy_ SR-2. Are you the captain of the _Serenity_?" Shepard spoke, before anyone could. An uncomfortable silence yawned.

"_-That depends. What does a core-ship want with the Captain?-"_ the _Serenity_ replied, suspicious.

Shepard turned to Ira, making a gesture towards the screen, but she stepped further out of view, pointing out the window to the planet or the _Serenity_.

"To be honest, one of my crew wants to meet you. A Phoenix," Shepard replied after a moment, crossing his arms when the _Serenity_ was once again silent for an uncomfortable period of time.

"_-What would a Phoenix want with a nobody like me?-" _the captain of the _Serenity_ finally said.

"We'll meet planet-side – three people each. Joker, can you send them the coordinates?" John asked of his pilot. "Yeah, they're on their way, Shep."

"_-I don't recall to agreeing to meet. What exactly do you people want?-"_ the captain demanded.

John stared at the feed, at the man and his female pilot, and smiled. "Honestly. . . I think you'll have to see it to believe it." John paused a moment, then shook his head. "Please, just hear us out planet-side."

The captain grumbled and groaned, but he conceded.

Less than an hour later, John, Ira, and – after deciding he could remain inside the Kodiak – Garrus were waiting for the Firefly _Serenity_ to land. When it finally did, three people stepped out of it, another standing threateningly in the bay, making no effort what so ever to hide the guns he wielded.

"So. What did you want?" the Captain asked, crossing his arms as he stared at John.

The answer came in a flurry of foreign words from Ira, none of which John understood, but the captain apparently had, as he replied in a similar fashion. It went in for a few minutes before Ira raised her voice, it cutting through the air between them as she yanked off her helm with an air of anger John honestly couldn't recall seeing before.

"It isn't an Alliance ship!" Ira finally bellowed. The captain scoffed.

"If anything, my ship is a Spectre ship," John pointed out quietly.

"Shepard," Ira muttered quietly. He obediently went quiet, letting them talk.

"Look, Malcolm, the only reason I haven't been looking for you is because they told me you were dead. I went to look for your _gorram_ body – I looked through piles of corpses on Hera to find out if you were any of the recognizable ones. . . And then I found your tags on a body, burnt and twisted beyond recognition," Ira explained quietly, calmly, as if merely explaining how to plant something. That voice shook John. He looked between mother and son with trepidation, trying to figure out what he could do to help or if being silent was the best option.

Malcolm looked away from her, sorrow scarring deeply on his face. The two women that accompanied him looked at her – the older one with darker skin having an unfathomable expression while the younger pale woman had a serene smile in place.

"I'm sorry that you went through that, Ma. . . But I'm not sorry for fighting for what I believe in," the Captain offered quietly. John had to strain to hear him. Ira's shoulders heaved suddenly, and she launched herself at her son, wrapping around him as sobs heaved her body. The Browncoat held her tightly, turning away from the crowd watching them, trying to soothe his mother.

"They're very happy to not be alone." John looked at the small woman, a question on his face.

"They were both worried they would out live everyone they loved," she told him knowingly, "And it's much harder to live believing you're alone than it is knowing there are others out there, just like you."

"I'd stay with her, if I could," John grunted lowly, watching the mother-son duo.

"And I would stay with mine, if _she_ helped me," the mysterious pilot replied with a broad grin, gesturing at the equally small woman in Malcolm's arms.

John frowned, trying to figure out what she meant. "What do you mean?" he eventually asked. Her reply made his heart stutter.

"HALLOW."

-Zenku-Zenku-Zenku-

**A/N: About HALLOW: it's only when she dies and is resurrected that she losing some of her magic, while each time she **_**would**_** die but doesn't, her Biotics increase by a much smaller fraction. Right now, she only has access to small bits of Combat Magic, Runes (which are a component of her mechs), about 3****rd**** year Transfiguration, and around 5****th**** year Charms. Everything else is inaccessible, including the more useful healing magic and possibly Animangi magic, depending on what you guys say. Eventually, all active magi will be inaccessible, while passive magic (like Runes) will always be usable.**

**HALLOW was intended as a combat augmentation for the Protheans, and hadn't yet been tested on the full side-effects. No one knows the full extent of it yet (Including me, at this moment). It IS genetically inheritable, but not to its full potential.**

**Hmm. . . Her names/faces might be becoming a bit confusing for some of you. . . So, I constructed this to help out:**

**Name: Eyes, Hair; Accent; Affiliation; Status**

_Adhara Grimm: Red Eyes, Black Hair; Mixed; Phoenix; Inactive_

_Aegis, Ira: Grey Eyes, White Hair; Russian; Phoenix, Zenku; Active_

_Hallow, Leader: Violet Eyes, Red Hair; Scottish; Zenku; N/A_

_Cree Reynolds: Green Eyes, Black Hair; Rim; Civilian; Classified as 'Dead'_

_Chrysanthemum 'Cry' Krum (__née__ Potter): Green-Silver Eyes, White Hair; Mixed; N/A; N/A_

**You can just disregard any specific statements as to what she looks like, I suppose, as well as her accents and just try to keep straight that they are all the same person, if it's too confusing for you.**

**This will be at the end of each chapter, with additions as her faces change, if they do. Oh, and the Firefly/Serenity timeline has also been bumped back by . . . ~333 years. Obviously.**

**The next bit should involve . . . More. More of ME2, hopefully more of the other 'verses. -sigh- And I'm sorry for the extreme author notes on this chapter.**

**I've edited a very minor bit of this chapter after realizing it made a conflict with what I had previously said. Also, hopefully a new chapter will be up within a month. –K9, 22-6-13**


End file.
